Embroidery Is...

About Embroidery: What is Embroidery?

Embroidery is a handicraft that involves decorating a fabric or a cloth using needles and embroidery threads including yarn. It involves stitching of pictures, logos or other accents on cloth, which can be done by hand or by a machine. There are different techniques applied in doing this craft, and it has become an enjoying past time to some.

It all started a long time ago…

The art of embroidery can be dated back to ancient China and Egypt. Many say that this craft was first used to restore or patch torn clothing. People during the early times used needles and threads to sew the holes on their pants and their torn seams. Later they realized that needles and threads can be used to create decorative accents on fabrics. So they explore the decorative possibilities of simple sewing.

Through the years, embroidery started to flourish relying mainly on the basic stitches as groundwork. Then, the 19th century marked the innovation that put the traditional handicraft into a much technological level. Embroidery machines were invented, and people began to produce massive amounts of embroidered products.

How is embroidery made?

There are two common methods in embroidery. The first one is by hand, and the other is by machine. Both use the traditional embroidery as their foundation.

Embroidery by hand means doing all the work manually. One has to familiarize the kinds of stitches and the kinds of knots to be able to start and finish a clean and well-embroidered product. Some of the stitches that one should learn to commence embroidery are the straight stitch, the back stitch, the chain stitch, the feather stitch and the French knot. There are also more complicated stitches that can make great decorative embroidery. You can learn these stitches in embroidery books and embroidery online tutorials.

By hand, method is usually done by enthusiasts and hobbyists. Usually, they make embroidery pieces for display or for pieces of cloth like handkerchief, tablecloth or even undergarments.

Embroidery machines allows more complex designs to be made on a large scale.

Embroidery businesses flourished when embroidery by machine started to take over embroidery by hand. All you need to have is a designed pattern or digitized logo, and the machine will start embroidering it for you. The process used to translate digital designs into machine-readable instructions is called digitizing. The method has been used by many in designing hats, polo shirts, t-shirts, apron, sock, jeans and other clothing.

Clothe customization is one of the many products of the embroidery tradition. It has become easier to print embroidery on clothing with the help of embroidery machines. One can now get personalized embroidered clothes in a short span of time and without any hassle.

An evolution to this craft is the 3D embroidery. Unlike the usual embroidery, 3D makes the design bulkier. The design is much thicker and can be seen from a three-dimensional perspective. 3D embroidery has been used to create designs in baseball caps and bull caps.

Embroidery is a rich tradition that has become richer with the application of more advanced technology. As of today, it is very useful in branding different pieces of fabrics, and it could only grow as the years pass by.